Skimming....can you do it to much?

[David Winther]

I was wondering if you can "overskim" your tank. I have my skimmer running full speed and was curious if I can over do the skimming amount. How do you know if you are skimming the proper amount/level and what are signs that you are "over" skimming?

Thanks!

-Dave

 

[mojoreef]

David I dont think you can over skim. The skimmer removes particles that ride up the skimmer on bubbles. If thier is nothing to skim in the tank the bubbles will just not have anything on them.

Mike

 

[northstaraquatics]

It depends on who you ask. Many will say "Yes, you can remove important trace elements." Others like Mike don't think you can over skim - as in you reach a point where input and output are equalled out. I would suggest if you skim heavily do frequent (weekly) water changes. Also the term "over skim" has as many meanings as does too much light or water movement. It all depends on your bio load, feeding, reef type, ...

Jon

 

[Montanarocknreefer]

I run my skimmer 24/7 and every other day I am cleaning the holding cup of skimmate!

 

[doug onion]

Quick add on after water changes my skimmer removes lots of water. It always does was wondering if this is normal? I shut everything down when I do my changes and then it just takes maybe a gal. I do about 20 gals, weekly on my 90 and premix my instant ocean over night. After the initial take the skimmer goes back to normal, Its a urchin pro. I don't know I do stir the tank up when i do my change so is that the culprit? Should I be more careful when I do my water changes? Thanx everyone I'll try checkin back soon so be patient if it takes me awhile to get back.

 

[NanaReefer]

Seems to be a popular topic as there are several related threads going on
I run the RO BH-1000 on my lil 26. I've only 2 fish but lots of coral. So I guess you could say I have a low bio-load. But...I feed nothing but frozen foods 2x daily for the sole purpose of my Scooter Dragonet. I also feed several Reef Nutrition products 2-3x a week. Honestly I am so grateful for this skimmer! 4 out of 7 days its pulls major nasties that would otherwise cause me major algae issues. The other 4 days its pretty clean...just the way I like it. If anything this large skimmer allows me to feed my fish & corals the way they are meant to be fed, often!


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

[tat2z_21]

Quick add on after water changes my skimmer removes lots of water. It always does was wondering if this is normal? I shut everything down when I do my changes and then it just takes maybe a gal. I do about 20 gals, weekly on my 90 and premix my instant ocean over night. After the initial take the skimmer goes back to normal, Its a urchin pro. I don't know I do stir the tank up when i do my change so is that the culprit? Should I be more careful when I do my water changes? Thanx everyone I'll try checkin back soon so be patient if it takes me awhile to get back.

I would make sure that when you are changing the water, the water level where the skimmer is will adjust, changing the height of the water column inside the skimmer body as well. Even an inch can give you this result if you have your level of water too high or right on the verge.

 

[Terrance]

I think it would be hard to overskim a tank. Too much would be a skimmer rated for 400-600g skimmer on a tank with 15g of water.

 

[doug onion]

Thanks, I thought it was alright since I haven't had other issues other then annoying watching to make sure it does not fill my overflow. I will look to see if my skimmer level changes during the changes. I couldn't find a thread on it so i added it to this one. Thank you again!!